How successful was Roosevelt in delivering relief, recovery and reform during the New Deal?

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Introduction

Transfer-Encoding: chunked ﻿How successful was Roosevelt in delivering ?relief, recovery and reform? during the New Deal? The Great Depression is now considered as one of the greatest global economic crises in world history. It began with the stock market crash in New York in 1929, and had a detrimental effect on the U.S. economy; due to globalisation, other economies were influenced as well. Therefore, the Great Depression is a topic of considerable interest among historians and it needs accurate and objective evaluation. This essay discusses how F.D. Roosevelt, the President of the United States, tried to address the economic decline in America, and to what extent Roosevelt was successful in delivering promised ?relief, recovery and reform?. However, to start with, it is worth considering the circumstances and some causes of the Wall Street Crash. It is important to understand what kind of country America was; this explains such a massive shift in economic policies and views on the role of government. Above all, the beginning of the 20th century nowadays is seen as the time of the birth of modern America. Despite a sense of frustration and anger present in society since the end of the First World War, the war did not affect the U.S.A. to the same extent as it affected other countries. Apparently, America was in the advantageous position of being distanced from battlefields and thus able to overcome the war with far fewer economic and civilian losses. From the end of the World War, America experienced economic growth which acted in conjunction with the development of technologies and consumerism. ...read more.

Middle

Corporation tax rates were boosted from 12% to 13.75% and 14.5%. Estate taxes were raised. Gift taxes were imposed with rates from 0.75% to 33.5%. A 10% gasoline tax was imposed, a 3% automobile tax, a telegraph and telephone tax, a 2¢ check tax, and many other excise taxes; postal rates were increased substantially [9]. These taxes were needed to cover increasing government spending. Recovery Moreover, Roosevelt’s original aim of 2.5 million jobs was not remotely achieved during his first term as president (Brogan, p. ). This was only achieved by 1939 when growing military industries assisted FERA and WPA to provide 3 million jobs to American people. The problems brought by the Great Depression in agriculture could not be ignored either. In 1933 the First Agricultural Adjustment Act was introduced, whose aim was to raise farm income. This was done through such measures as reduction of the acreages planted or destruction of the crops in the fields, reduction of crops (paying the farmers not to plant anything), organising marketing and introducing more regulation to improve distribution. In 1933 FDR persuaded Congress to pass the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), which set up the National Recovery Administration (NRA). It was designed to “meet a continuing emergency [...] which has a demoralising character” (Brogan, p, ) by the means of making business regulate itself. Fair codes of prices, wages, hours, and working conditions were developed, a minimum wage of 40¢ an hour ($12 to $15 a week in smaller communities), a 35-hour working week for industrial workers and 40 hours for white-collar workers, not to mention a ban on all youth labour [9]. ...read more.

Conclusion

Reference list: Berkin, C., Miller, C., Cherny, R. and Gormly, J., (2011) Making America: A History of the United States (Vol. 1). Nelson Education. Brogan, D.W., (1952), Roosevelt and the New Deal. London: Oxford University Press. Clements, P. (2008) Prosperity, Depression and the New Deal, London: Hodder Education. Encyclopaedia Britannica, (2016), “United States presidential election of 1932”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1932 [Acc: 1 Aug. 2016] The Future Tense (2014), “Six Years Into The U.S. Depression & The Echoes Of The 1930’s”, Apr. 13, http://www.ftense.com/2014/04/six-years-into-us-depression-echoes-of.html [Acc: 19 Sept. 2016] Lee W. (1955), “Economic Fluctuations”, Washington State College, Illinois: R. D. Irwin Inc, Homewood. National Archives. “FDR's Fireside Chat on the Purposes and Foundations of the Recovery Program”, National Archive Documents. www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fdr-fireside/ [Acc: 1 Aug. 2016] O’Neil W., (2009) “The Great Depression in Facts and Figures”, www.analysis.williamdoneil.com/Great_Depression_Facts_Figures.htm, data from MeasuringWorth "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?” [Acc: 19. Sept. 2016] Sennholz, H. (1969), “The Great Depression”, The Freeman, October, pp. 585-596. Shlaes, A., (2010), “Obama threatens to follow in FDR's economic missteps”, The Washington Post, Jul. 9. United States History (no year), “Unemployment Statistics during the Great Depression”, United States History, www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1528.html [Acc: 1 Aug. 2016] Walker, R. and G. Brechin, (2009) “The Living New Deal: The Unsung Beneï¬ts of the New Deal for the United States and California”, IRLE working paper â220-10 The Future Tense (2014), “Six Years Into The U.S. Depression & The Echoes Of The 1930’s”, Apr. 13, http://www.ftense.com/2014/04/six-years-into-us-depression-echoes-of.html [Acc: 19 Sept. 2016] O’Neil W., (2009) “The Great Depression in Facts and Figures”, www.analysis.williamdoneil.com/Great_Depression_Facts_Figures.htm, data from MeasuringWorth "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?” [Acc: 19. Sept. 2016] ...read more.

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